InDesign CC 2015.2 is now available. Here’s a quick overview of what you will find in this latest release.

Start Screen

There’s a newly designed Start Screen that opens when InDesign is launched and when all documents are closed. The Start Screen provides access to recently used files, CC Libraries and Presets, as well as Adobe assets and learning libraries.

ID 2015_2 start screen

Additionally, a new Recent Files workspace will display the most recent files you have worked on, and the default for the number of Recent documents has been increased to 20.

Note: Both features can be switched on and off in General Preferences.

Publish Online

There have been several enhancements to Publish Online (Technology Preview).

  • Previously published documents can be edited and republished using the same link.
  • New documents can be uploaded and reuse an existing link.
  • Transparency support has been improved.
  • There is now an option to allow readers to download a document as a PDF (Print), which includes additional PDF presets that can customize the PDF file.
  • Analytics have been added to the Web Dashboard and will track views and unique readers of your published documents.
  • There is a new option in Export dialogs to publish the current document online after exporting a PDF or an EPUB.

Creative Cloud Libraries

There are several new features that can be used to add, share, and search library assets.

  • You can add all the styles in a paragraph style group or character style group to a CC Library with a single click, and from a CC Library, multiple styles can be added to the character or paragraph style panels.
  • You can add all swatches in a group to a CC Library with a single click, and multiple selected colors in CC Libraries can be added to your swatches panel.
  • All the swatches from a color theme can be added to your Swatches panel.
  • The Edit Original option allows you to click images and graphics in the CC Library and launch the Creative Cloud application used to create it. Changes are saved, and the asset will be updated in the CC Library.
  • A new search feature lets you search for assets in your current Creative Cloud library or all libraries, and the results will appear in the CC Libraries panel.
  • You can search the Adobe Stock website from your CC Libraries panel and download a preview or license an image.

ID 2015_2 CC Library

Touch Workspace

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (or higher) or any touch-enabled tablet running Windows 8 or later can now be used to draw layouts in InDesign utilizing intuitive gestures with the new Touch workspace. Similar to the touch gestures of Comp CC, simple drawing movements can transform into layout elements like a block of text, a headline, or an image placeholder.

OpenType and Glyphs

It is now easier to find, preview, and apply OpenType features such as stylized characters and fractions. You can easily access OpenType options like stylized characters and fractions from the font menu, context menus that appear when you select text, and the new search feature in the Glyphs panel.

ID 2015_2 glyphs

Accessibility Enhancement

To meet accessibility requirements, the Export Adobe PDF dialog box now includes a Display Title option in the Viewing section of the General panel, where you can choose to use either the File Name or Document Title added in File>File Info.

New Page Sizes

The New Document dialog box offers new standard document sizes for Digital Publishing intent, including iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad, iPad Retina, Android (1280 × 800), Surface Pro (1 and 2), Surface Pro 3, and Kindle Fire/Nook.
 A new 1366 × 768 pixel dimension was also added under Web intent.

ID 2015_2 new device sizes


For more information about improvements made to InDesign CC, see Adobe’s New Features Summary page. Also look for more details about these new features in future posts.

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Posted by: Monica Murphy

Monica Murphy has worked in the publishing industry for over 30 years supporting publishing operations of various sizes. In her role as Technical Product Manager for Technology for Publishing, she shares her publishing application expertise supporting a broad range of publishing clients in InDesign best practices, cross-platform content workflows, and InDesign Template strategies. Her weekly tip and blog posts have a committed following in the InDesign community, and as a long-time participant in the InDesign pre-release community, she regularly analyzes and provides feedback for upcoming features. Monica manages the authoring and publication of Technology for Publishing’s handbooks on InDesign, InCopy, and other associated titles.